Fountain-inkstand



(N0 Model.) L. N- THOMAS. FOUNTAIN INKSTAND.

N0. 579,285 Patented Mar. 23, 1897.

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LINCOLN N. THOMAS, OF MADISONVILLE, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO V. L. MASON &

- (30., OF KEENE, NEXV HAMPSHIRE.

FQUNTAEN=ENKSTAND SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 579,285, dated March 23, 1897. Application filed Septemberlfi, 1896. Serial No. 606,023. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern. entl y supported by this diaphragm,wl1ose rim Be it known that I, LINCOLN N. THOMAS, a rests freely upon the shoulder a, and the oricitizen of the United States, residing at Madiiice b forms a receptacle orguideway forthe sonville, in the county of Hamilton and State dip-cup c, which is slightly smaller in diame- 5 of Ohio, have inventeda certain new and use ter than said guideway 12, and thereby rides 55 ful Improvement in Fountain-lnkstands, of freely up and down therein when the tube is which the following is a specification. depressed for the feeding of the ink to the My invention relates to an improvement in dipcup. fountain-inkstands having a dip-tube which The dish shape prod need in the diaphragm,

is elastically suspended on a yielding diaas aforesaid, makes it respond quickly and 60 phragm in an ink-well whose contents are gives it greater power for the upward return forced upward to the dip-cup through said movement. It also makes the best elastic tube when the pen is brought to bear upon support for the inktube. said dip-cup for a charge of ink thereto; and E represents a flange, preferably construct- 15 my invention consists in the novel features of ed at the bottom or lower end of the ink-tube. 65 construction and combination of parts here- This flange is of slightly smaller diameter inafter fully described, and particularly than that of the ink-well b, and is so made pointed out in the claims. that it rides freely up and down in said ink- In the drawing the View shown represents well and just misses its wall, so that it may a central sectional elevation of a fountaiir not stick thereto, but at the same time forms 70 inkstand embodying my invention. an accurate guide in connection with the wall A represents the inkstand, which may be of the ink-well to prevent the ink-tube Wabmade of glass or other suitable material, and bling from side to side to any material ex- 13 represents the chamber or reservoir in tent in operation. Thus the dip-cup may be which the ink and the automatic fountain destruck at any point in its bowl portion or 75 vices are placed. This chamber is constructcavity without detriment to the action of the ed with a circumferential shoulder a between pen in forcing the ink-tube down for feeding, its top and bottom, which divides it into two and said depression of the ink-tube is accomdiameters b and b, the diameter Z2 being the plished with the greatest facility and regulower and lesser one and constituting the well larity at all times. This flange-guide feature 80 or receptacle for the ink and the other diis especially efficacious, too, incase the dipameter Z) being the upper and greater one cup should be too small and fit too loosely and forming a guideway-orifice above said within its upper guide-orifice b, as is clearly ink-well. obvious. The flange E, being in the ink, also 0 represents the vertical ink-tube, having acts as a float or support to assist the dia- 85 a dip-cup c at its upperend and provided just phragm in holding up the weight of the inkbeneath said dip-cup with a circumferential cup. groove 0. The dip-cup and the ink-tube are prefer- D represents the diaphragm, which is comably made integral and of wood, which, if

posed of a thin inverted-cup or bell shaped properly seasoned, will neither swell nor 90 piece of soft rubber having a closely-fitting crack, and the expense incurred would be central orifice therein and thereby adapted about one-fourth that of hard rubber, which to hold firmly upon the ink-tube, the latter latter is the material usually adopted. To

. passing downwardly through said central oriprovide against swelling and the consequent flee, which is slightlysmallerin diameter than sticking of the dip-cup in the chamber B, I 5 the grooved portion 0' of the inktube, and shrink a band d of hard rubber, thin metal, which, in stretching or springing over the or the like around said dip-cup, which may tube into said groove 0, is caused to become be done both readily and cheaply, and it thus inverted-dish shaped. The inlctube, when forms a reinforce or auxiliary device which in place in chamber B, is elastically or resilisafely guards against any accidents from no poorly-seasoned or unseasoned wood and the resultant refusal of the ink-tube to act, and also injury to the point of the pen.

In operation the ink is placed in the inkwell I) to a height never to exceed a level with the shoulder a and so that the elastic diaphragm shall not be exposed to the chemical action of the ink. The ink-tube is elastically suspended therein on the yielding diaphragm, which rests freely on said shoulder without an y fastening and without any stopper above. On depressing the ink-tube with the pen a slight touch only is necessary, as the movement is very prompt, free, and easy, and the ink is automatically caused to rise Within said tube to the dip-cup by the usual compressing action of said diaphragm.

My automatic fountain device is certainly very simple, economical, and readily placed into and withdrawn from position within the chamber B, and a veryimportant point gained in its being freely placed within the said chamber is that the expansive act-ion of any hot air under the diaphragm in a heated atmosphere at any time (especially at a time when the stand is not in use and the operator absent) will cause the diaphragm, together with the ink-tube, to float or rise over the ink and not permit the latter to rise in the tube to overflow the dip-cup and cause great inconvenience and injury to surrounding objects, such as important papers and the like on the desk.

I claim-- 1. In combination with an inkstand having an integral body with a small chamber below and an enlarged chamber above, and a shoulder between said chambers, a dip-cup of diameter to easily fit the enlarged upper chamber of the inkstand and having a stem, an elastic diaphragm resting 011 the shoulder between the chambers, through which the stem of the dip-cup passes with a close fit, and a flange on the stem below the diaphragm serving as a guide in the lower chamber of the inkstand, all combined substantially as described.

2. The integralinkstand having an enlarged upper and a small lower chamber and a shoulder between these chambers, a dip-cup of wood surrounded with a ring of hard material which approximately fits said upper chamber, the hollow wooden stem extending from said cup into the lower chamber, and the elastic diaphragm through which the stem passes, said diaphragm having its outer edge on the shoulder between the chambers of the inkstand, the stem having a wooden float in the lower chamber to assistthe diaphragm in supporting the ink-cup all combined substantially as described.

LINCOLN N. THOMAS.

\Vitnesscs:

L. M. J ONES, JOHN ELIAS J ONES. 

